Employers Still Cautious with Hiring and Compensation

01.20.14

By Samantha Reynolds

An annual report done by CareerBuilder predicts that employers will continue to remain cautious when it comes to hiring and compensation plans in 2014. Uncertainty surrounding debt negotiations in Congress and other economic factors are on the tops of the minds of business owners.

Over half of employers plan to make no change to the number of full time employees they hire, while 24% say they will increase their numbers. This number is down from 26% of employers saying there would increase the number of full time positions at their company in 2013.

Almost 3 out of 4 employers plan an increase of 3% or less (or no increase at all) in compensation for employees in 2014. Those employees seeing the biggest increases are the ones in high skill roles, as the job market becomes slightly more competitive.

Overall employers agree that the job market will be better in 2014 than it was in previous years, but39% of small businesses reported that they are still struggling to recover from the last recession and plan to stay cautious in 2014 as they see what plays out on the economic and legislative fronts.